A cast of wine bloggers, digerati, Tool fans and film distributors gathered at London’s Royal Society of Arts on Wednesday night for the UK premiere of the new wine documentary ‘Blood Into Wine’.

Just a couple of regular guys trying to make a living off the land...

The event represented this blog’s first foray into event hosting and things were looking a bit hairy when, with less than an hour before showtime, the film had yet to arrive at the venue. Oh my.

But fear not, dear readers, the bluest of blue-rays arrived all the way from Arizona in the safe hands of the film’s producer, Chris ‘Topper’ McDaniel along with a bag full of goodies.  Everything just felt good from there on in.

The story of Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan’s determination to grow wine in the harsh terrain of Arizona is reviewed well elsewhere and I’m certainly no Mark Kermode but there were a couple of corks in this film that hit me in the slurper.

Firstly, the Arizona landscape. For me it shared top billing in this movie. Many moons ago, I drove coast to coast across America. It was in Arizona where I really swallowed the Kool-Aid of this most extraordinary of continents.

The film took me back to an overnight stay in Sedona laying on top of my hire car watching satellites streak across the sky like never ending comets. A truly extraordinary land and skyscape.

The man who shared top billing with this shaman filled outback was, surprisingly, not Mr Keenan. The true human star of the show was Eric Glomski, the winemaker that Maynard hired to be his mentor. And I get the feeling Maynard is more than happy that Eric’s star shines brightest here.

Eric’s description of wine-making had the same effect on me as Virginia Madsen’s ode to pinot noir did in Sideways. I am now in love with them both. Although in different ways, you must understand.

For those that couldn’t be there in person here are a couple of clips from the Q&A featuring Topper and my good self.

This film has taught me one valuable lesson. If I want to own a vineyard I need to form a rock band and sell 40m records. Right, now where did I put that Fender…

I was flicking through the channels the other night and stumbled across Silence of the Lambs just as Sir Anphoney Ham-it-up-kins was doing his “ate his liver with some fava beans and a glass of Chianti” speech.

It got me thinking. What are the best wine references in film? So, here’s my Top Five -

1 – Intolerable Cruelty – Margaux ’54

George Clooney is waiting for Catherine Zeta Jones to arrive for dinner and is obsessively polishing his teeth. She arrives, and in turn so does the waiter and the following exchange occurs:

Waiter: Something to start. Some wines perhaps
MILES: Red
MARILYN: French
MILES: Bordeaux
MARILYN: Chateau Margaux
MILES: 57?
MARILYN: 59?
MILES: 54
MARILYN: Oh, Mr Massey

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYDb9O8EWDM]

2 -”The Muppet Movie” (1979) – Sparkling Muscatel from Idaho

Steve Martin plays a haughty sommelier in what must be the best wine moment in a children’s wine film – how many can there be? Kermit is out to dinner with Miss Piggy and orders a bottle of bubbly – hilarity ensues!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiGAAHG0O1A]

3 – Notorious” (1946) – Champagne

In which Alfred Hitchcock makes it nerve-racking to watch people drink Champagne. Cary Grant suspects that the Nazis are hiding a substance used to make radioactive weapons in wine bottles – I’ve had a few bottles that have tasted like uranium but that’s another story.

He and Ingrid Bergman poke around in the wine cellar of a mansion, opening bottles, while the Nazis throw a big party. If they are caught, they will be killed!!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFcm4mTaOlc]

4 – Sideways – Cheval Blanc ’61

Much of the films post publicity centred on the increased sales of Pinot Noir attributed to Virginia Madsen’s extraordinary speech in the middle of the film (quite frankly she could soliloquise about beetroot and I’d buy it off her).

However it is Miles’ relationship with his prized bottle of Cheval Blanc ’61 that is central to our appreciation of the film. A lovelorn and broken Miles, who has been saving his most prized possession for the most special of days ends up drinking the bottle in a fast food outlet with nothing more than a greasy burger and a brown paper bag. Tragic

5 – Manhattan Murder Mystery – Mouton Rothschild ’45

Diane Keaton and Alan Alda, take in a wine tasting, providing Woody Allen an opportunity to take a pop at wine snobs:

TED: That Mouton 45. That was . . .
CAROL: Didn’t you love it?
TED: Oh, that was-was like, sublime, you know?
CAROL: Yeah.
TED: And the inexpensive Spanish one. Wasn’t that . . . wasn’t that a nice surprise?
CAROL: It was very, very . . .
TED: Wasn’t that great?
CAROL: Yeah.

Who cares about the research! – it’s still one of my favourite movies so lets take a trip down memory lane. If you’ve still not seen it then buy it here, if you need convincing then watch the trailer below and buy it anyway

The longstanding belief that the film Sideways sent Pinot Noir sales through the roof was confirmed today.

The effects of the film on Pinot Noir ‘were positive across all price points, with the largest impact being on the highest price point of US$20-$40 per bottle,’ a research paper published by Sonoma State University and Sonoma Research Associates says.

It goes on to show the negative effects of Merlot being confined ‘mostly to the lower priced segment, under US$10 per bottle.’ In the 2004 film – an unexpected hit – the main character famously waxed lyrical about the virtues of Pinot Noir whilst ridiculing Merlot.

Earlier data from ACNielsen had shown a dramatic initial surge in Pinot Noir purchasing just days after the film’s release – there was a 16% increase in sales compared with the same period a year earlier. In 2005, glass manufacturer Riedel reported an increase in US sales of 45%, partly because of more demand for its $12-$95 Pinot Noir glasses.

The research, released almost four years after the film’s release, concludes that ‘the positive impact on Pinot Noir appears greater than the negative impact on Merlot.’ The ‘Sideways Effect’ was only temporary, with sales of domestically produced Merlots up, according to data from IRI, by 6% in December 2007.

[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YS9ocP6FNvM]